# Fast and Loose - Expressive Travel Sketchbooks Retreat with Artists Mike Staniford and Debbie Mackinnon in France

Join artists Mike Staniford and Debbie Mackinnon for a travel sketchbook retreat in the picturesque Dordogne region of France. Work on location in the villages of Eymet, Issigeac, and Beynac-et-Cazenac, drawing inspiration from quiet alleyways, market scenes, layered textures, and the ever-changing light. Use mixed media, watercolor, and gouache to capture what you see and feel, filling your sketchbook with personal responses to the landscape around you.Stay at a historic estate and spend each day with Mike and Debbie as they guide you through warm-up drawings, fast on-location sketching, creative mark-making, and composition. Build your sketchbook spread by spread, combining drawing and painting in your own way. Mike and Debbie will demonstrate techniques and offer individual feedback, helping you connect the process with play and clarity with expression.Eat together, create together, and close the day with relaxed conversations and time to reflect. You will leave with a sketchbook full of layered pages, new techniques, and momentum to keep going. The retreat welcomes artists of all levels, but you will benefit most if you have some prior drawing and painting experience.

## Details

- **Dates:** May 16 - 23, 2026
- **Location:** Eymet, Dordogne, France
- **Starting Price:** $4,450
- **Category:** Painting

## Program

### Fast and Loose - Expressive Travel Sketchbooks
Join artists Mike Staniford and Debbie Mackinnon for a travel sketchbook retreat in the picturesque Dordogne region of southwestern France. Work alongside this renowned art couple as they guide you through the practice of drawing and painting on location. With backgrounds in design, a long history of exhibitions, and a shared love of working en plein air, Mike and Debbie will help you translate the textures, colors, and movement of your surroundings into expressive pages filled with mixed media, watercolor, and gouache. You will benefit most from this retreat if you have some prior drawing and painting experience.Work closely with Mike and Debbie to build sketchbook pages that reflect the way you see and respond to the world around you. Focus on warm-up drawings, layering, loose mark-making, color mixing, and composition. Explore how to combine watercolor, gouache, ink, and dry media as you move between small studies and more developed pages. You will sharpen your drawing foundations while also learning to follow instinct and improvise freely. Daily demonstrations will keep the pace lively and approachable, while one-on-one guidance will help you develop your own rhythm and direction.Visit three inspiring locations throughout the week. Walk and draw in the medieval town of Issigeac. Practice fast sketching at the lively Eymet market, capturing the energy of the crowd and gathering ephemera for collage. Spend a full day in Beynac-et-Cazenac, drawing riverside scenes and stone streets in your own time. Back at the studio, review your work, expand your pages, and prepare for a mini-exhibition to celebrate what you’ve created. Mike and Debbie will help you shape a sketchbook that tells the story of your week—layered, personal, and full of life. The topics covered during your lessons will include:Making your own concertina sketchbookTraveling light with watercolor, gouache, and other mixed media materialsWorking on location to make fast and exciting drawings of placeDrawing and painting ‘on the go’ in cafes, markets, streets, as well as local landscapesWorking some sketches up into more finished works in the studioLooking at limited palettes and how they can improve your sketchesExploring mark making with different materials, including foraged materialsWorking in brown paper sketchbooks, watercolor journals, and homemade booksUsing collage to enliven the workIncluding ephemeral materials to make exciting, lively pages...and many more. Your accommodation will be in an elegant historic estate from the Napoleonic era, set amidst vibrant gardens, secluded woodlands, a natural pond, and a heated pool. Delight in Dordogne’s culinary heritage with daily chef-prepared meals and savor the local wines through a cheese and wine-tasting experience.

### Day 1: Arrival
Catch the 3:30 PM shuttle from Bergerac train station to your retreat venue—a stunning 25-acre historic estate in the heart of Dordogne. Upon arrival, settle into your cozy accommodations, take a moment to unwind, and meet Mike and Debbie, your instructors for the week. Start your experience with a guided tour of the estate, showcasing its charming communal spaces, beautifully landscaped gardens, sunlit terraces, a heated swimming pool, serene woodlands, and a tranquil pond. The day concludes with a warm welcome dinner featuring exquisite French cuisine and fine wine, setting the tone for an inspiring and unforgettable week ahead.

### Day 2: Art at the venue
Begin the day with a hearty breakfast and coffee in the garden. Settle in with Mike and Debbie and get ready to ease into the rhythm of the week ahead.Start the morning by going through your materials. Mike and Debbie will walk you through what you’ll be using throughout the retreat. Talk together about what you each are keen to explore and achieve in your travel sketchbook. Focus will shift to the importance of warm-up drawings and how they help loosen the hand, sharpen observation, and clear the mind. You’ll begin sketching right away, letting quick marks and gestures set the tone for the rest of your work.After lunch, dive into the full range of materials. Explore the differences between watercolor, gouache, ink, and dry media. Mike and Debbie will demo how each behaves and how to switch between them. Then create a random background in your sketchbook using whatever speaks to you. Layer paint, make textures, scribble, and smudge. Experiment with how the media interact. Let the page unfold without pressure. You’ll discover ways to combine materials and make them your own.Take some time in the late afternoon to unwind. Stroll through the estate’s gardens, reflect by the pond, or relax by the pool, letting the serene atmosphere spark your creativity. As the day draws to a close, enjoy a relaxed dinner featuring delicious, local flavors and French wine. Share what surprised you, what felt good, and what you’re curious to try next. Let the sketchbook stay open and unfinished.

### Day 3: Art trip to Issigeac
After a nourishing breakfast, grab your sketchbook and head out with Mike and Debbie for a morning visit to the village of Issigeac. Walk its winding streets and take in the quiet details of half-timbered buildings, stone walls, crooked doorways, and painted shutters. As you explore the village, take time to soak in its unique character, perhaps enjoying a moment at a cozy café near the historic church of Saint-Félicien.Watch a quick demo before beginning your own warm-up sketches. Make fast marks, loose lines, and small drawings as you walk and draw. Let the rhythm of the place guide your page. Focus on responding to the environment rather than overthinking the outcome. Mike and Debbie will offer individual feedback throughout the morning as you move between spots, sketching from street corners, market stalls, or tucked-away courtyards. Capture textures and forms or note anything that could later grow into a more developed piece.After lunch, return to the studio and take your drawings further. Work from the references you gathered in the village. Use a limited palette and start mixing color to support what you saw and felt. Play with composition and perspective through layering, cropping, or combining elements. Mike and Debbie will show examples and offer direction as you shape your sketchbook page into something more refined while still keeping its energy intact.In the evening, gather again for dinner, trade stories, flip through pages, and wind down after a day spent observing, moving, and drawing.

### Day 4: Art at the venue
Start the day with a hearty breakfast and coffee before stepping outside with your sketchbook.Walk the grounds with Mike and Debbie and begin drawing from observation. Look around and decide what draws your attention. It might be the shape of a tree, the lines of a stone wall, a doorway, a shadow across a bench, or someone walking through the garden. Focus on what interests you and build on that. Keep it loose. Fill your pages. Layer lines and color if needed. Mike and Debbie will move between you and offer feedback as you go.After lunch, return to the studio and gather everything you’ve explored throughout the week. Use your earlier drawings and exercises as a base to develop work around your chosen theme. Scale up if you're ready. Focus on clarity, composition, and confidence. Mike and Debbie will guide you through sharpening your sketching skills with the upcoming trip to Beynac in mind. Ask questions. Share what’s felt tricky or unclear. Demos will follow the group’s needs. Prepare your travel kit and talk about pacing your sketching day. Go over how to draw in cafes without overthinking it.Regroup in the gardens for a special event: a wine and cheese-tasting experience. As a quintessential part of French culture, you'll try out the delicious varieties that made the Dordogne region famous. Afterward, gather again for a chef-made dinner.

### Day 5: Trip to Beynac-et-Cazenac
Kick off the fifth day with a hearty breakfast and coffee before setting out with your sketchbook for a full day in Beynac-et-Cazenac. The village rises above the Dordogne River with narrow cobblestone streets, steep stone paths, flower-filled windows, and the towering Château de Beynac anchoring the scene.Start the morning with warm-up drawings at a café. Use the time to loosen your hand and observe your surroundings without pressure. Mike and Debbie will help you apply everything you’ve practiced so far as you choose where and how to work. Find a view that pulls you in, whether it’s a doorway, a cluster of rooftops, or a winding path, and begin responding to it in your sketchbook.Pause for a light lunch in the village and take in the atmosphere. Notice what stands out in your memory from the morning and let that guide what you focus on next.In the afternoon, continue sketching. If you need help or want to work together, Mike and Debbie will be in the square. Otherwise, wander and explore at your own pace. Stop to draw the river, rooftops, or small architectural details. Stay in motion or settle into one spot. You will decide how to shape the second half of your day.Return to the estate in the early evening and take time to unwind. Share a relaxed dinner with the group and talk through what the day brought to your pages.

### Day 6: Trip to the French market
After a leisurely breakfast, walk with the group to the Eymet market. It’s a short fifteen-minute stroll from the venue. Arrive with your sketchbook in hand and dive straight into the rhythm of the morning. A beloved tradition, local French markets offer an authentic peek into this region's countryside life.Draw quickly and without hesitation. Practice capturing people, stalls, and movement in 30 or 60 seconds. Don’t worry about perfection. Focus on the energy of the place. Watch for gestures, shapes, patterns, and color. Let the crowds, the noise, and the changing scenes guide your pages. Mike and Debbie will be nearby to offer prompts and suggestions as you go. Collect small papers, packaging, or textures to use later in your sketchbook. Pick up anything interesting that tells the story of the place.After lunch, spread everything out in the studio and take a good look. Flip through your drawings, sort through ephemera, and reflect on what you’ve gathered. Mike and Debbie will give feedback and encouragement, helping you spot what’s working and what could go further. You will start seeing connections between your pages from earlier in the week and what you’ve created today.Savor a relaxed dinner as you talk through the day, pass sketchbooks around, and enjoy the company of others who are building their own travel journals one page at a time.

### Day 7: Art at the venue
Begin your final day with a hearty breakfast, and take a moment to look back at how far your sketchbook has come. Settle into the morning with Mike and Debbie, and get ready to bring everything together.Use the session to finalize your work. Flip through your pages and add the refining touches you’ve been saving for last. Fill in blank spaces. Add color where it’s missing. Strengthen linework or soften edges. Adjust compositions. Add a date, a note, or a texture you forgot. Mike and Debbie will move through the room, offering suggestions and helping you push each spread just a little further.After lunch, prepare your space for a mini-exhibition. Lay your sketchbook open or select pages to share. Look through each other's work and talk about what surprised you, what shifted, and what stayed consistent. Mike and Debbie will offer final thoughts, reflections, and encouragement, celebrating what you’ve created and how it’s evolved over the week.End the day with a warm farewell dinner. Raise a glass to everything recorded, discovered, and felt across the pages.

### Day 8: Departure
Enjoy a final breakfast with Mike and Debbie and your fellow artists before it's time to part ways. Departing at 9:00 AM, you'll head to Gare Bergerac train station, arriving around 9:45 AM. As you journey home, you'll carry with you a heart full of inspiration and unforgettable memories.

## Instructors

- **Debbie Mackinnon** - Painter, Educator, Nature Enthusiast
- **Mike Staniford** - Artist, Educator, Landscape Interpreter

## Accommodation

### Historic countryside estate

### Shared standard room

### Shared superior room (female only)

### Single standard room

### Single superior room

## Book This Retreat

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